John E. Sununu confident that he can win the New Hampshire 2026 Senate race
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EXCLUSIVE – It has been almost two decades that the name of former senator John E. Sununu is on the ballot, but if the New Hampshire republican decides to launch a 2026 campaign for the open headquarters of the Senate of the Swing State, he is convinced that he can win.
“I am sure that if we are assessing a solid team, it is a race that can be won. It is a race that I can win. And more importantly, it is a role where I know that I can make a difference for the New Hampshire,” said Sununu in its strongest comments to date, in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital.
The former senator, who reiterated that he “would make a decision in October” on the opportunity to launch a Senate campaign in the competitive race expected to succeed in withdrawing the Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, said: “It is a winning race for the right person who reflects the values of our state, and not the values of Washington.”
And despite the fact that President Donald Trump was a “loser” in an article from the newspaper of the newspaper at the beginning of last year, Sununu could win the president’s support if he arises.
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Former Republican senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire was interviewed by Fox News Digital on September 15, 2025 in Rye, NH (Paul Steinhauser / Fox News)
“President Trump appreciates the winners and understands that John E. Sununu puts this race on the menu of the Republicans,” a national republican in the Senate race in New Hampshire told Fox News.
Sununu is a former representative of three mandates who then defeated Gov. Shaheen in New Hampshire’s 2002 Senate election. But the senator lost to Shaheen in his 2008 Revenge match.
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Shaheen announced Earlier this year, she would not ask for her re -election in the middle of next year, and the Republicans hope to return the siege when they aim not only to defend but also to extend their majority to the Senate. The representative of four mandates Chris Pappas is the clear precursor of democratic appointment.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is expressed at a press conference after the weekly meeting of the Senate democratic policy at the American Capitol building on September 19, 2023, in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
After almost two decades in the private sector, Sununu looks like someone ready to hit the campaign track.
“It is an incredibly important race. It is an incredibly important moment for the country and I think it could be the right time to intensify,” Sununu told Fox News Digital.
He said that “in recent weeks, the residents of New Hampshire have set out to hand. They have encouraged me to come to the Senate, because they know how important it is that New Hampshire has the good type of voice in Washington, someone who will defend our condition, someone who will not only be a rubber stamp for anyone else, but will represent the New Hampshire every day.”
But it is not only the voters of the New Hampshire who can encourage Sununu to run.
The main national Republicans, including the leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, organized conversations with the former senator concerning a Senate campaign in 2026, a source at Fox News Digital said two weeks ago.
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Former senator Cory Gardner, president of the Senate, is also spoken in Sununu, the first PAC supporting the Republicans of the Senate. The source added that Thune and Gardner were cautiously optimistic that Sunnunu would launch a campaign.
Sununu is a brand in New Hampshire Politics. The father of the former senator, John H. Sununu, is a former governor who was then chief of staff to the White House of George HW Bush at the time. And one of his young brothers is the former governor Chris Sununu, who won the elections and re -election to four two -year mandates towards the granite state.
Then-gov. Chris Sunnu of New Hampshire was interviewed by Fox News Digital on his last full day in power, January 8, 2025 in Concord, NH (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)
But the Republican Party has radically changed since the last broadcast of the former senator 17 years ago. The GOP, under the firm control of President Donald Trump and his America First Agenda and the Maga Movement, went from a platform oriented towards business in a more populist party.
When he was asked if there was still room for a budgetary preservative at the old school in Trump’s GOP, Sununu said: “A good decision -making, good leadership, never gets rid of. Defending your state, defending your neighbors and friends, and things that make the New Hampshire hard never gets rid of. Being an effective voice never stands out.”
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But some of Sununu’s past criticisms on Trump could come back to injure him if he joins a republican primary which already includes the former senator Scott Brown and the state senator Dan Innis, who both support the president.
Sunnu, with then-Gov. Chris Sununu, approved the former ambassador and former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire presidential primary of New Hampshire, while fighting Trump for the appointment.
The candidate for the Republican presidential election, former UN ambassador and former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, Center, is joined by the new governor of Hampshire of the time, Chris Sununu, on the left, while they were visiting a place of survey in Hampton, NH, primary day, January 23, 2024. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
And on the eve of the first presidential primary of the nation, the former senator wrote an opinion article entitled “Donald Trump is a loser”, who appeared in the leader of the New Hampshire Union, the biggest daily newspaper of the State.
“@Johnsununu was the original” Never Trumper “,” instructed Brown in an article on social networks this month. “He will have to explain this.”
Brown approved Trump before his new Hampshire primary victory in 2016, who launched him towards the presidential appointment of the GOP and finally the White House. Brown was then American ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term.
And Innis says he is the most pro-Trump candidate for the race.
When asked if he could win a republican primary race that could turn into a Trump loyalty test, Sununu said: “The real question is, can you be effective? Can you work with other members of the Congress? Can you work with this White House? Can you provide the type of leadership that it takes to get things done? And I know that I can do this.”
“If there is a primary, I have already seen them. I have already experienced them,” he added. “I am very comfortable with the place where we are today, and in the coming weeks, I will continue to take the point of view of people, to assemble a good team, to make sure that we have a winning message and make a decision in October.”
Trump, whose approval in republican primaries is extremely influential, has remained neutral to date.
And the president may be ready to neglect the past blows of Sununu.
Earlier this year, when Chris Sununu flirted with an offer from the Senate after leaving his duties, Trump urged him to run.
The young Sunnu, who was Haley’s best supporter and substitute in New Hampshire, repeatedly criticized Trump in the republican presidential primaries of 2024.
Trump told journalists in April that he had met the former governor of the Oval Office and that he “would fully support him”.
“He was very nice to me in the past year,” added Trump. “I hope he runs. I think he will win this seat.”
President Donald Trump has remained neutral to date in the primary of the Republican Senate 2026 in New Hampshire. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photo)
The national republican strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said that “apart from his famous family name, Sununu is a serious candidate having the possibility of collecting and calling on the unique policy of New Hampshire. All the other candidates – announced or envisaged – will have a very difficult period against Chris Pappas next November.”
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Asked to try to win Trump’s support, Sununu said: “I would certainly love to have the support of the whole spectrum, which includes the president.”
But he added that “in the end, it is a question of strengthening support in New Hampshire, offering the right leadership for New Hampshire and the right message for New Hampshire”.
